Charmed MD
by Kohala
Summary: A House M.D. and Charmed cross over. House is forced to do clinic duty and runs into the a mysterious illness, which has struck a member of the Halliwell family. You've got to read to find out who.
1. Chapter 1

I just want to point out that I realize House, MD actually takes place in New Jersey, but in order for this story to work, House is now located in San Francisco. Charmed is set in season two some time after 'Awakened'. Piper is in love with Leo, but Leo has not yet regained his powers. House, MD is set sometime in season one. Enjoy!

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The bright morning sun shone threw the curtain-covered windows of the Halliwell manor. Prue Halliwell flipped the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle looking for an article that would interest her. The middle Halliwell sister, Piper, moved quickly through the kitchen, preparing breakfast and coffee for her sisters. She'd always had a knack for cooking and enjoyed preparing gourmet dishes for her friends and family. Her dream was to one day own and operate her own restaurant, but having recently acquired her own nightclub, her dreams had been put on hold.

Prue had dreams of her own, which she had just recently begun to pursue. Following Piper's near-death experience after having been diagnosed with Oroyo fever, Prue had decided that life was short and she was wasting hers. She quit her job at Buckland's Auction House to pursue her own dream of becoming a professional photographer.

Piper placed a steaming cup of French vanilla coffee in front of Prue before returning to the stove to flip the omelet she was cooking.

"Thanks," said Prue gratefully as she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the mug. She pulled the mug to her lips and carefully sipped the hot liquid. Phoebe stumbled groggily into the kitchen and flopped into an empty chair.

"Morning, Pheebs," said Piper cheerfully. Phoebe mumbled something incoherent before resting her forehead on the edge of the table.

"Are you all right?" Prue asked, setting her mug back onto the table. She looked over at her baby sister sympathetically. Piper lowered the heat on the stove and sat next to Phoebe.

"No," Phoebe groaned. She raised her head and looked over at Piper. "I think I'm sick."

"You do look a little pale," said Piper. She gently placed the back of her hand over Phoebe's forehead. "And you're kind of warm."

Phoebe dropper her forehead back on the tabletop and wrapped her arms protectively around her head.

"I have some free time this morning before I go to the club," said Piper. "Why don't I take you down to the walk-in clinic at the hospital." Phoebe nodded, her head remaining on the table.

Prue folded the San Francisco Chronicle and set it aside. "You should go lay down for a bit," Prue suggested. "Maybe have some Aspirin to lower your fever." Phoebe propped her head up on the palms of her hands, then quickly stood up and headed to her room.

Piper's eyes followed the sound of Phoebe's footsteps up the stairs and through the upper level of the house until they had stopped at their destination.

"I hope it isn't contagious," said Prue. "I have a really big photo shoot tomorrow." She took another sip of her coffee and watched as Piper place a plate of food in front of her. Prue thanked her and gathered a piece of omelet onto her fork.

"That's very sympathetic of you, Prue," said Piper sarcastically.

"I'm sure it's nothing serious," said Prue.

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Gregory House limped slowly through a quite corridor of the San Francisco Memorial Hospital. He'd been avoiding clinic duty, successfully, all morning. The only person he had to watch for was Lisa Cuddy, the hospital's administrator and Dean of Medicine.

As he turned the corner, he caught sight of Cuddy, speaking with a member of the nursing staff. He quickly turned to walk back where he had come, but Cuddy had spotted him. House could sense the anger in her voice when she bellowed his name. He stopped moving and listened to the sound of her heels clicking on the solid, tile floor as she walked quickly toward him.

When he turned around, he found himself staring at a very angry Cuddy.

"I have been looking for you all morning!" Cuddy snapped. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Well that's funny," said House playfully. "I've have been looking everywhere for you too."

"Don't play games, House!" Cuddy demanded. "You are supposed to be on clinic duty. If I don't see you get your ass down to that clinic right now, you're fired!"

"All right, all right," said House. "No need to get snippy." He turned and headed for the elevator with Cuddy's eyes staring at him the entire way.

"You're in room three, House," said one of the nurses once he'd reached the clinic. "Twenty-five year old woman complaining of nausea and headache. She has a fever of ninety-nine point three." House rolled his eyes, grabbed Phoebe's chart and walked into exam room three.

Upon entering the room, House looked down at Phoebe and Piper. Phoebe was sitting on the hospital gurney with Piper sitting in a chair beside her.

"Hi," said Phoebe. "I'm Phoebe, this is my sister Piper."

"Is it my birthday?" House asked.

"Excuse me?" Piper asked. House ignored her and grabbed a tongue depressor. He examined Phoebe's throat, felt for swollen glands, and asked a few clinical questions.

"You're fine," said Phoebe. "It's just the flu. Get plenty of rest and liquids, etcetera, etcetera, blah, blah, blah." Phoebe looked at him skeptically. "Excuse me," Said House. "I have some gross sick people to look at and tell them they're sick." He pulled a bottle of Vicodin from his pocket and popped them in his mouth. As he left the room, Phoebe looked at Piper.

"He had horrible bedside manner," said Phoebe. "He was really rude."

"I know," Piper agreed. She pulled Phoebe to her feet and the two of them walked back out to the waiting room. Phoebe grabbed a form from the nursing desk and began filling it out while Piper surveyed the room. The nurse behind the desk flashed Piper a large smile as Phoebe handed her the forms she had filled out. Piper smiled back and turned to leave with Phoebe. The nurse continued to watch as the girls walked away.

Before the girls could get far, Phoebe's cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. "Hang on," she said. Piper nodded. Phoebe held the phone against her ear and placed her finger in the other to cut out the noise of the waiting room.

"Hey, Prue," she greeted. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just the flu." As she spoke with Prue, nearly everyone began looking in her direction. Phoebe frowned and looked behind her to see what everyone was looking at. She could see House moving quickly toward her. In the corner of her eye, she noticed something by her feet. "Oh my god!" She gasped. She quickly closed her cell phone and knelt to the floor where Piper had fallen. "Somebody help!" Piper was unconscious and didn't appear to be breathing.


	2. Chapter 2

Prue slammed the door of her '99 Mazda Miata and proceeded to shove her parking pass into her purse as she hurried toward the hospital entrance. She walked past the information desk and headed straight to the elevator. She'd already spoken with Phoebe, so there was no need to ask for directions to Piper's room.

She moved quickly toward Piper's room, but stopped and turned around when she heard a familiar voice call her name. Phoebe came running up behind her and nearly knocked Prue to the floor when she wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm so glad you're here," Phoebe sighed. "They don't know what's wrong with her and I don't think I can handle this again." Prue grabbed Phoebe by the shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Is it Oroyo fever again? Is it back?" Prue asked. She looked terrified. Piper had died from Oroyo fever not long ago and the only reason she was still alive was because Leo had brought her back. Leo was no longer a whitelighter and couldn't save Piper again if she was to die.

"No," replied Phoebe, shaking her head as she spoke. Prue let out a huge sigh of relief and let go of her sister. "That was the first thing they tested her for," Phoebe continued. "They said all of the tests came back negative."

"Then what is wrong with her?" Prue asked. She and Phoebe began walking toward Piper's room. Phoebe shrugged. Once they'd reached Piper's room, Phoebe attempted to open the sliding glass door, but Prue, not realizing there was a sliding glass door, plowed into it and fell to the floor.

Phoebe stared at her sister in shock before erupting in a fit of laughter. "I can't believe you just did that!" she giggled as she pulled Prue to her feet. Prue gingerly felt her nose; her cheeks were a dark shade of red.

"Just open the door," said Prue. She wanted to get out of sight of any of the onlookers in the corridor. Phoebe slid the door open and followed Prue inside. Piper was sitting up in bed with a huge grin spread across her face. "Don't say a word," said Prue. "I am so embarrassed right now."

"You should be," Piper laughed. "Are you all right?"

"I think I wounded my pride more than anything," replied Prue. She stopped examining her nose and sat on Piper's bed. "What about you? Are you feeling ok?"

"I feel fine," Piper replied. "And they can't find anything wrong with me. I don't understand why they won't let me go home." Prue smiled and looked over at Phoebe.

"The nurse I talked to said they're waiting for a few more tests and then we can go," Phoebe explained. "So far they haven't found anything."

"Did you eat anything this morning?" asked Prue. "Maybe it was a low blood pressure thing?" Piper shook her head.

"No," she replied. "I ate the same thing you did and you would think that would be one of the first things the doctors would have checked for." Prue nodded in agreement.

"I guess so," she said.

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Cuddy walked purposefully into the employee lounge and dropped a folder on the sofa beside House.

"You dropped something," said House, not looking away from the TV.

"This is your new assignment, seeing as I can't seem to get you to stay in the clinic," said Cuddy. "I believe you're familiar with the patient."

House glanced at the name on the folder and looked back at the TV. "She fainted," said House. "She's fine."

"Look at her medical history," said Cuddy. She opened the folder and pointed to the latest entry in Piper's medical history.

"She died of Oroyo fever and miraculously came back to life," said Cuddy. "Now nearly two weeks later she collapses for no apparent reason. She's not fine."

"So why are you giving her to me?" House asked. He looked up at Cuddy. "I'm assuming you already have someone running her tests. Are you not happy with their performance?" He flashed a sarcastic smile.

"You're an infectious disease specialist," replied Cuddy. "She had an infectious disease, which makes her your responsibility."

"Emphasis on 'had'," said House. "She doesn't have it anymore." 

"She died from it!" Cuddy exclaimed. "And two minutes later she came back to life. This should interest the hell out of you."

"It should," said House. "And surprisingly, it doesn't." He looked back at the TV. Cuddy grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.

"Gather your team and figure out how this woman survived and what is wrong with her now!" Cuddy demanded.

House rolled his eyes and struggled to his feet. Grabbing his cane, he started for the door with Piper's folder in his free hand. "All right, I'm going," he grumbled. He opened the door and looked back at Cuddy. You really shouldn't frown so much," he suggested. "You're going to get wrinkles."


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, thanks for all of the reviews! I'm glad this story has received so much interest. Hopefully you enjoy this next chapter. More reviews are always welcomed.

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Chase, Foreman, and Cameron sat silently in the employee's lounge, flipping silently through Piper's recent test results. After a few minutes, Chase dropped a stack of papers loudly on the surface of the coffee table. Cameron and Foreman looked at him, slightly shaken.

"There is nothing here," said Chase. "This is a complete waste of time. There is nothing wrong with this woman."

"There's obviously some reason House has us looking through all of this," said Cameron.

"Yeah, to keep us out of his way," said Foreman. "He's probably off hiding somewhere watching TV and hiding from Cuddy." Cameron rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Well, it's nice to know you all think so highly of me," said House sarcastically as he hobbled into the room. "I take it you haven't found anything?"

"Not in any of her recent tests," replied Foreman. "Besides the Oroyo fever, she's had no health problems whatsoever. Like I said, the woman _just_ fainted. It happens."

"But dying from an incurable disease and coming back to life with no sign of ever having the disease doesn't just happen!" said Cameron. "Maybe it has something to do with her DNA or her immune system."

"Who was the attending when she came in with Oroyo fever?" asked Chase. "Was there any research done following her release?"

"Dr. Williamson was on the case," replied Cameron. "His funding was cut during his research; then he went missing."

"Now that is interesting," said House. "Maybe there's a big conspiracy between him and the sisters. Maybe she didn't even have the disease to begin with." His tone was full of sarcasm. He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows.

"If this is all a conspiracy, then why are we wasting our time here?" Foreman asked. "We could be doing something productive, like clinic duty."

"Oh, clinic duty is over-rated," said House. "We are here because Cuddy seems to think there's something wrong with…"

"Piper Halliwell," said Cameron.

"Right," said House, completely uninterested. "Well, we can't make Cuddy mad now, can we? Run the tests and look for anything that might affect her immune system. Call me if you find something." He turned and began making his way out the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Chase. House turned back and looked at him.

"I'm going to go watch my stories," he replied sarcastically.

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Phoebe and Prue stood outside of the curtain around Piper's bed. She had pulled it closed in order to change back into her street clothes.

"Piper, what are you doing?" Phoebe asked impatiently. "We don't even know what your test results are yet."

"I don't care," said Piper. She pulled the curtain back and buttoned her jacket. "There's nothing wrong with me and I have a lot of work to do at P3. I can't wait here all day. They can phone me with my results."

"You can't release yourself," said Prue. "They're not going to just let you walk out the front door."

"No?" said Piper. "Watch me."

Prue and Phoebe followed close behind as Piper charged through the corridor. A few nurses turned to look at them, but didn't seem to realize Piper wasn't supposed to be leaving. Nurse Pritchett, the nurse who had signed Phoebe out of the clinic earlier that day noticed Piper leaving. She quickly called for her to come back, but Piper was bound and determined to leave the building.

As they reached the elevator, Piper slowed to a stop. She put one hand to her chest and used the other to steady herself against the wall.

"Piper, are you ok?" Prue asked. She placed her hand supportively on Piper's shoulder and crouched slightly to gain eye contact with Piper.

"I think something's wrong," Piper gasped breathlessly. She clenched her teeth and dropped to her knees. Phoebe was about to call for help, but nurse Pritchett was already running toward them

"I can't breathe," Piper gasped as Prue forced her to sit down. Droplets of sweat began forming along her hairline.

"Are you in any pain?" nurse Pritchett asked.

"It feels like something is squeezing my chest," replied Piper. She looked ready to pass out and continued to clutch at her chest.

"Can I get some help over here!" nurse Pritchett shouted to a few of the attending doctors who were standing at the nurses' desk, unaware of what was going on. Two doctors moved quickly toward nurse Pritchett and the sisters.

"What happened?" asked one of the doctors. Nurse Pritchett moved to allow the doctors access to Piper.

"I think she's having a heart attack," she replied.


	4. Chapter 4

House was sitting in his office, facing the window while playing Tomb Raider: Legend. Cameron knocked softly on his door as she entered the room. She had a file clutched in her free hand.

"Busy," House mumbled without looking away from his game. Cameron ignored House and moved toward him until she was standing at his side.

"Piper Halliwell had a heart attack in the hallway," she stated as she attempted to pass the results of Piper's ECG to House.

"She faked it," said House, ignoring the file that Cameron was showing him.

"The ECG results say otherwise," said Cameron. She placed the results back into Piper's file.

"Did you know her boobs get bigger each time they release a new game," said House. He flashed the small game screen at Cameron before turning the game off. "What kind of message are we sending to all of the young, innocent children with a role model like that?"

"You're changing the subject," said Cameron.

"Yes, I am," said House. "I guess I'm just not that interested."

"She had a heart attack at twenty seven," said Cameron angrily.

"It happens," said House. "Test for heart disease, drug use, check the blood for abnormalities. You know what to do. You shouldn't need me to hold your hand the entire time." Cameron rolled her eyes.

"I just thought you should know what is going on with your case," said Cameron. "Cuddy assigned Piper to you." 

"And I've assigned her to you as a learning experience," said House. "You should be grateful. I've gotten you out of clinic duty for awhile." Cameron sighed angrily and left the room. House shrugged and turned his Game Boy back on.

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Piper sat silently on her hospital bed and watched the lines on the heart monitor beside her. Nurse Pritchett finished setting Piper up and making her comfortable before letting her sisters into the room. Prue and Phoebe moved quickly into the room as nurse Pritchett left the room and headed back to her station.

"How are you doing?" Prue asked as she pulled up a chair beside Piper.

"I feel fine," replied Piper. "I don't understand how that could have happened. There wasn't any warning or anything."

"I know, it was weird," said Phoebe. "But now you know to take better care of yourself so it doesn't happen again." Piper rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Where's Leo?" Piper asked.

"I phoned him a little while ago," replied Phoebe. "He was at P3 making sure everything is ready for tonight."

"He's going to take awhile to get here," said Prue. "It's not like he can just orb anywhere he wants anymore."

"And he doesn't have any money to take a cab," said Phoebe. "He's probably walking here." Piper nodded. They all stopped talking as Cameron walked into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt," she said softly. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions." She stood beside Piper and began asking questions regarding to Piper's medical history. Grams and her heart condition was brought up relating to Piper's heart attack.

After asking a few questions, Cameron left the room. She ran into House who was standing outside the door.

"I knew she would pique your interest sooner or later," said Cameron. She had a large, satisfied smirk on her face.

"Did you learn anything?" House asked.

"Heart disease runs in her family," replied Cameron. "But her tests came back fine. The only thing that could have caused the heart attack is anemia. Her blood test came back with a big deficiency in red blood cells."

"So now all we need to do is find out what is causing the anemia," said Chase as he approached the two of them. House looked at him and frowned.

"Where were you?" he asked. "You're supposed to be helping with the Halliwell case."

"I have been," said Chase. "You wanted me to have a DNA analysis done to find out how she survived the Oroyo Fever." He had an angry expression on his face having been accused of slacking off. House continued to look at him, waiting for the results from the test.

"There was definitely something different about her DNA," Chase continued. He held out a sheet of paper with a few images from the test results.

"What the hell is that?" Cameron asked. She stared at the image and frowned.

"This was taken from her?" House asked. He pointed his cane in Piper's direction. Neither she nor her sisters were paying any attention to them. Chase nodded.

"It's human DNA," Chase replied. "But it looks as though it's evolved."


	5. Chapter 5

Hopefully this chapter is long enough to tide you over for a bit. Sorry about the delay… as usual. That's just what it's like as a student. Midterms are a beast. I kind of have a better idea of where I'm going with this story now though, so hopefully more chapters will be up more frequently. Enjoy!! Oh, and thank you very much for the reviews!! It's nice to know people are actually reading my story and enjoying it. Y'all know how to make a girl feel good -

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The girls looked back at the door where Dr. House and his colleagues were standing. They were deep in discussion about something, but none of the girls could tell what. Chase and House glanced back at Piper and her sisters, then quickly glanced away.

"Do you think they're talking about us?" Prue asked sarcastically. As Chase looked back at the girls once again, he made eye contact with Prue and quickly looked away. Prue frowned suspiciously.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Piper, trying to sound convincing. She leaned back in bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Phoebe jumped onto the bed and rested her head on Piper's stomach.

"You should get some rest," said Prue as she looked over at her sisters. "It's been a long day and you look a little tired." She ignored Piper's protests and pulled Phoebe to her feet. "Visiting hours are almost over and we don't want to be in the way of the doctors," said Prue. "We'll be back first thing in the morning. I promise." Piper watched her sisters leave the room, and then turned to face the large picture window.

House and his team stopped talking as Phoebe and Prue passed. Foreman gave them an unconvincing smile before looking away. As the girls walked away, Prue looked at Phoebe and raised an eyebrow. Phoebe rolled her eyes and smirked.

The team of doctors began walking in the opposite direction, towards House's office. House shut the door behind them and hobbled over to his comfy, leather office chair. He sat down and let it spin around before leaning over his desk. He looked directly at Foreman without saying a word.

"What?" asked a surprised Foreman. "What did I do?"

"Nothing yet," replied House. "I have a job for you." Foreman looked confused. He glanced over at Cameron and Chase, and then back at House. He immediately shook his head.

"I'm not doing it," said Foreman. "I've done it for you once already. It's someone else's turn." House smiled.

"But you did such a good job last time," said House. "I need you to go investigate the Halliwell house and look for anything that might alter DNA. Maybe it was caused by chemicals, food, drugs…"

"If it has something to do with their house, then why aren't either of her sisters showing symptoms?" Cameron asked.

"Maybe the symptoms have nothing to do with the genetic mutation," replied House. He twirled his cane and looked up at Cameron. "But it just interests the heck out of me." He flashed a sarcastic smile and got to his feet. "In the meantime, Cameron, I want you to find the cause of the anemia and Chase, why don't you accompany Foreman. Maybe having some company will keep him from being so darn whiny."

Chase rolled his eyes and left the room with Foreman. Cameron left shortly after. House grabbed the results from Piper's DNA test off of his desk and stared at the image. He looked up to see Nurse Pritchett walk by. She was doing her evening rounds to each room.

As Phoebe and Prue reached the main entrance, they ran into Leo. He had just arrived and looked quite tired.

"Leo!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly. She jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. She let go and pushed him away. "What took you so long? We've been waiting for like, forever for you here."

"I'm sorry," said Leo as he gingerly touched the spot on his chest where Phoebe had pushed him. She was small, but she had a lot of strength to her. "San Francisco is a huge city. I had to walk all the way here. I don't have any money… or a license to drive."

Phoebe apologized sheepishly, and then began leading Leo to the elevator to see Piper. Prue followed close behind, warning them that visiting hours were pretty well over. Phoebe ignored her completely and repeatedly pressed the button of the elevator in a lame attempt to make it move faster.

From inside the elevator, they could hear an announcement being made by one of the nurses. Apparently there was something happening on the third floor. Prue looked at Phoebe with a worried expression.

"That's Piper's floor," said Prue. Phoebe once again began pounding at the elevator buttons.

"I'm sure she's fine," said Leo. He pulled Phoebe's hands away from the elevator keypad and tried to calm her down. Once the door of the elevator opened, they could see a number of hospital staff moving frantically around the corridor. Prue, Phoebe, and Leo ran toward Piper's room, only to find her bed empty and most of the hospital equipment scattered all over the place.

Prue caught a glimpse of House, moving as quickly as he could manage, down the corridor. Prue grabbed Phoebe by the hand and pulled her toward House.

"Where's my sister?" Prue demanded angrily. She tended to try to act intimidating in order to hide any sign of worry. She hated feeling out of control.

"She freaked out," replied House. He continued moving toward the elevator without looking back at the sisters. He pressed the 'up' elevator button with the end of his cane and turned to face the sisters. "She started throwing things and took off running."

"So where are you going?" Phoebe asked. Unlike her eldest sister, she had no problems displaying her emotions. She had a worried expression across her face and was shaking slightly. The elevator opened and the four of them stepped inside.

"I heard someone say she was seen on the eighth floor," House explained. "So, naturally, rather than running around like a headless chicken down here, I figured I'd attempt to find her and keep her from hurting someone."

The elevator stopped at the eighth floor and the doors flew open. The eighth floor seemed quite quiet, almost empty. The four of them stepped out of the elevator and moved through the corridor. Chase ran up to them, startling the girls enough to make them scream.

"I thought you'd left to do something," said House. He frowned at Chase and continued making his way around the eighth floor. "Something… _important_." Chase rolled his eyes and looked at House.

"Foreman and I noticed Piper run up here," replied Chase. "We assumed you hadn't asked her to go running around the stairs, so we followed her. She lost us somehow though."

House looked at him expectantly and pointed off in the distance. Piper was standing next to a large picture window with her hands pressed firmly against the glass. She looked over at him and took off running in the opposite direction. Foreman came running out of a nearby corridor and began running after her. He called her, hoping she would stop long enough for him to catch her, but she continued running. Piper disappeared around a corner, but when Foreman turned the corner she was nowhere in sight. He ran down the corridor and headed for the stairs, assuming she had escaped to another floor.

Piper carefully poked her head out of the janitorial closet and began running back the way she had come. She stopped short when she saw House, Leo, and her sisters walking toward her. Piper threw her hands up, causing House and Leo to stop in place.

"Piper! What are you doing?" Prue exclaimed. She and Phoebe ran to Piper's side just as House and Leo unfroze. House had noticed that Prue and Phoebe had mysteriously appeared at Piper's side, but assumed it was an effect of the Vicodin. Leo looked over at House, hoping he hadn't noticed the momentary advance in time.

"They're all demons!" Piper exclaimed hysterically. She pushed her sisters away and attempted to run away. Prue grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back. Piper screamed and tried to fight her way out of her sister's grip.

Foreman came up behind them, along with Chase. Chase grabbed Piper around the torso, holding her arms down to keep her from hitting either of them. Foreman grabbed a syringe he had acquired from the eighth floor supply room and quickly filled it with a sedative. As Piper fought against Chase, Foreman lifted the bottom of her shirt and injected the sedative into her side. Phoebe put her hand over her mouth and moved closer to Prue.

"Prue, they're demons," Piper cried through clenched teeth. "They're going to kill me and come after you. You can't let them do this." She struggled to pull out of Chase's grip, but soon began to feel the effects of the sedative. She soon became limp in Chase's arms and closed her eyes.

"She's burning up," said Chase as he repositioned Piper so that he could lift her. Her head rested on his shoulder, her forehead against his cheek.

"Which would cause the hallucinations," said Foreman. "We need to get her back to her room and put her under a cooling blanket. I'm sorry you had to see this." He looked over at Prue and Phoebe sympathetically. "I'm sure it's just an effect from the medication, but we'll run a few tests to rule anything out."

They began walking back to the elevator. Chase carried Piper back to her room and placed her on the bed. Prue, Phoebe, and Leo attempted to follow, but House called them back.

"Your sister is going to be fine," he said. "You girls should run along home. There's nothing you can do for her tonight." The girls obediently followed Leo back to the elevator and headed to the main floor.

"Do you think she might be right?" Phoebe asked. She looked up at Leo. He shook his head.

"No," he replied. "Demons don't tend to be well-known doctors and I'm sure the Elders would have contacted me if there was something demonic going on. Like the doctor said, she was hallucinating from the fever. Seeing as you deal with demons and warlocks on a regular basis, it's only natural for her to bring up demons." Prue nodded in agreement.

"I want to check the Book of Shadows anyway," said Phoebe. "Just to be sure." The three of them left the hospital and drove to P3. With Piper out of commission, they would need to step up and take over for awhile. They hadn't noticed, but soon after they had left, Chase and Foreman had jumped into a car and followed them. They watched as the trio went inside P3, and then headed for the Halliwell manor.


	6. Chapter 6

Foreman and Chase pulled up to the front of Halliwell manor and cut the ignition. The two of them got out of Foreman's car and looked up at the large structure before them. The first thing that came to Chase's mind was the amount of time it was going to take to search the entire house before the Halliwell's returned.

"These chicks must be loaded," Foreman whispered. He and Chase walked up the driveway and around to the back door. Before Chase could question how they were going to get into the house, Foreman grabbed something from his jacket pocket and proceeded to pick the lock until it clicked open. He motioned at Chase to keep quiet while he listened for any sign of an alarm system or dog. When he felt they were safe to enter, he pushed the door open further and quietly made his way inside. Chase followed close behind and closed the door behind them.

Foreman walked cautiously through the kitchen, trying his best not to make any sound in case there was still someone in the house. There hadn't been a car in the driveway and none of the lights appeared to be on from outside, but they couldn't be too careful.

Suddenly, the room lit up without any warning. Foreman made a move toward the door, but stopped short when he saw the look on Chase's face. With further observation, he noticed Chase's finger resting beneath the upturned light switch.

"What are you doing?" Foreman snapped angrily. He hit the light switch, returning the room to the darkened state it had been in before their entry. "You're going to get us caught!"

"I'm sorry," said Chase, quite stunned at Foreman's reaction. "So, how do you suppose we're going to find what we're looking for if we're in the dark?" Foreman held out a small LED flashlight for Chase and lit the one he had brought for himself. Chase took the flashlight and turned it on. The light emit from the flashlights were faint, but allowed them to see things close up. It was enough light for them to work with, but not enough to be noticed from the street.

"You take the kitchen," Foreman directed. "I'll start with the basement and we'll work our way up to the attic. Chase nodded and watched as Foreman opened the basement door and descended the stairs. With a deep, agitated sigh, Chase set to work. He searched everything from the cupboards to the china cabinet, but nothing jumped out at him as having any effect on DNA.

Foreman soon returned to the main floor. He hadn't had any luck in finding anything either. The two of them continued their search through the house. They made their way up to the second floor and eventually to the attic.

"It looks like they spend a lot of time up here," said Foreman. Most attics were full of old boxes and Christmas decorations. The Halliwell attic, however, had a few sofas and looked as though it was dusted frequently. In the center of the room was the pedestal which held the Halliwell's Book of Shadows.

"Nice way to display a photo album," said Chase. Foreman rolled his eyes and began looking through a few boxes and shelves. Chase approached the Book of Shadows and looked at the Triquetra embossed on the cover. As interesting as the book looked, Chase knew they needed to hurry to get out of the house before the sisters returned home. He stepped away from the book and continued to help Foreman search the attic.

Foreman propped open the old trunk near the window just as a set of headlights swerved into the driveway. His eyes widened and he let the trunk slam shut. The sound made Chase jump. He cursed as he scrambled to his feet. A very confused Chase followed close behind.

"What the hell are you doing?" Chase whispered loudly. Foreman continued to move quickly through the house trying to get to the main floor before the Halliwell's unlocked the door.

The lock on the front door clicked open and Prue proceeded into the manor, followed by Phoebe. They were talking loudly and moved quickly into the center of the house where they then placed their bags on the sofa. Prue stopped suddenly and held her index finger in the air, signaling Phoebe to stop talking. Phoebe looked at Prue, seemingly quite upset that she had just been "shushed".

"Did you hear that?" Prue whispered. She grabbed Phoebe by the hand and pulled her toward the kitchen. She flicked on the light, expecting to see an intruder of either a human or supernatural nature. She was almost disappointed when she found no sign of anyone having been in their kitchen.

"Ok, Prue," said Phoebe, prying her wrist from Prue's grip. "You've officially freaked me out. What exactly are we looking for?"

"I thought I heard the door shut," replied Prue. She checked to make sure the door was closed, and then glanced out the window to see if anyone was running away. Phoebe moved nervously toward her sister for protection in case someone, or something, jumped out of the shadows.

"Sorry," said Prue. "I guess I'm just a little paranoid." She moved away from the window and opened the refrigerator to find something to eat. Phoebe grabbed the wireless phone and checked the call-display to see if they had missed any calls while they were out.

"Do you think what Piper said might have been true?" Phoebe asked. She replaced the phone on its cradle and crossed her arms.

"No," Prue sighed. "I think if there had actually been demons attacking her she wouldn't have blurted it out in front of a bunch of people. It's just not like Piper." Phoebe nodded.

"But what if they were all demons?" Phoebe asked.

"You think the entire staff of the San Francisco Memorial is made up of demons?" Prue asked with a smirk.

"That would be a little weird, wouldn't it?" Phoebe laughed. "It's not exactly the job demons are cut out for. They'd be better working in a law office or for the government or something." Prue laughed as she retrieved a piece of left-over cheesecake from the refrigerator. "Oh, I'll have some of that too," said Phoebe. She grabbed two forks from the utensil draw and sat at the table, anxiously awaiting a piece of Piper's home-made cheese cake."

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Piper stared up at the ceiling, still groggy from the sedative. She had no recollection of her actions that night. As far as she knew, she had fallen asleep as soon as her sisters had left. Once her vision had begun to clear and the dizziness subsided, she looked over at the glass door that led out to the corridor. There were people walking in either direction past her room; none of which she recognized. Finally, she saw two familiar faces pass by her room. Foreman and Chase were walking at a fast pace in the direction of House's office.

Piper pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked out the picture window. The sun was rising slowly over San Francisco and seemed to pour directly into Piper's room. She looked over at the clock on the bedside table. The little red lines drew the numbers 10:58a.m. Visiting hours would begin in two minutes. She could soon hear the voices of her sisters getting closer and closer to her room. She smiled as they appeared at the glass door and slid it open.

"You're awake," said Phoebe. "How are you feeling?" She ran to Piper's bedside and crawled onto the small hospital bed with her. She wrapped her arm tightly around Piper and smiled up at her. Prue jumped onto the other side of the bed and placed the back of her hand on Piper's forehead.

"You're still really warm," said Prue. She took Piper's hand and curled up next to her just like Phoebe.

"What do you mean 'still'?" Piper asked, completely confused.

"You don't remember last night?" Prue asked as she looked up to face Piper.

"No. What about last night?" Piper asked. "What are you talking about?"

Prue and Phoebe explained to Piper what she had done the night before. Just as they finished telling Piper about her demon-theory, Nurse Pritchett walked into the room to do her morning rounds. She smiled at the girls and proceeded to change Piper's IV drip and checked all of her monitors. As quietly as she had come in, she left the room; not saying a word to any of the girls. Once she was gone, the girls proceeded to tell Piper about how everything went at P3 the previous night. Piper had booked a few popular musicians to play, which made P3 one of the most popular venues in San Francisco.

At the same time, House and his team gathered together in his office. House pulled out a large dry-erase board and placed it on its easel. He began writing Piper's symptoms on one side and some possible causes on the other. Foreman, Cameron and Chase began shouting out suggestions and vetoing others.

"There was absolutely nothing in that house that would cause the abnormality in her DNA or the anemia," said Foreman.

"You're saying there was no medications, no lack of red meat, no harmful chemicals…" House said doubtfully.

"Common household cleaners, left-over hamburgers, steaks in the freezer, and the only medication in that house consisted of birth control and multivitamins."

"So, we can rule out any vitamin deficiencies," said Cameron. "And diet and medication complications obviously aren't an issue."

"And there have been no signs of internal bleeding, anemia disorders, kidney or liver failure, lead poisoning," Chase listed.

"What about alcohol?" House asked. "Her file said she owns and operates a club."

"Her blood was clean," replied Cameron. "And she really doesn't seem like she has an alcohol issue."

"And what is the one point I have stressed to you on more than one occasion?" House asked expectantly.

"Patients lie," replied Chase.

"A gold star for you," said House sarcastically. "I want you to check for ulcers, cancer, hypothyroidism, etc. Don't come back to me until you have something else for me to work with." The trio of doctors left House's office tired and agitated. Working with House gave them little time off and often involved a mountain of research.

Just as the trio left the room, Phoebe came screaming down the corridor. They couldn't understand what she was saying, but immediately followed when she took off running back to Piper's room. A few of the nurses poked their heads over their desk and moved toward Piper's room.

"Oh my god," Cameron gasped as they walked into the room. There was a large pool of blood on the floor next to the bed. Piper was hanging over the edge of the bed while Prue pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She was trying to comfort Piper the best she could without losing her own composure. Piper panted heavily before spitting out another mouthful of blood.

"Do something!" Phoebe screamed, pushing Chase toward Piper.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry about all of the cliffhangers! I'm training to be a teacher and I've been trained to leave the reader/listener wanting more. Haha. Hopefully it's working. Thanks for all of the reviews! I really appreciate them! I'm glad to see people are still interested in my story. Hopefully this chapter doesn't disappoint you. I'll try to keep you all on your toes. Happy reading!

Edit: I'm sorry about the confusion with the "disappearing chapter 7". I wasn't happy with this chapter, so I made a few changes. Sorry if this confused anyone. I tried to pull it from the site before too many people read it. -

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Phoebe and Prue sat silently in Piper's hospital room. They hadn't said a word to one another in over an hour. Phoebe was in a chair next to the window, half asleep. Prue on the other hand, was wide awake. She was sitting in a chair against the wall opposite the empty bed that Piper had previously occupied. A custodian and a few members of the nursing staff had come in a cleaned Piper's mess right after House's team had taken Piper out of the room. It was nearly two hours later and Prue and Phoebe still hadn't heard any news on Piper's condition.

As Phoebe stared blankly out the picture window, her eyes began to close and her head drooped forward. She immediately snapped her head back and her eyes opened wide. Prue looked over at her and smiled. She tried to coax Phoebe into resting for awhile, but Phoebe refused. She wanted to be awake once Piper returned.

Both girls jumped to their feet as the sound of footsteps and wheels clicking against the tiles could be heard in the corridor. They stared at the door, hoping that House's team was bringing Piper back. To their disappointment, the custodian walked by, pushing his trolley in front of him. He smiled at the girls as he passed, then disappeared around the corner.

Just as the girls say back down, two nurses wheeled Piper on a gurney into the room. Prue and Piper watched as the nurses transferred Piper from the gurney to her bed. As soon as the nurses stepped aside, Prue and Piper were at Piper's bedside to make sure she was ok.

Meanwhile, in the ICU employee lounge, Foreman, Cameron, and Chase were looking over Piper's test results in a small office beside the recovery room while they waited for Piper to wake up.

"The gastritis would cause the anemia, but what caused the gastritis?" Chase yawned as he flipped through one of his medical texts.

"All of her symptoms are common side effects of certain medications," Cameron suggested. She had her resting on the table and her chin propped on her arms. The three of them were exhausted, having had very little sleep in the last twenty four hours. Chase was leaning back in a chair with his feet on the table and a book covering on his face. Foreman was standing next to the window, staring out at the busy city below.

"Her blood test came back clean," Foreman mumbled. "Besides the symptoms, there's nothing else that would suggest drug use of any kind. What about severe stress or illness?"

"Could be," replied Chase. "We have no idea how stressful her home life is."

"Do you think that maybe the Oroyo fever might have caused it?" Cameron asked. She raised her head and looked over at Foreman. Chase lifted the book off of his face and set it on the table.

"That would make sense," said Chase.

"Gastritis is closely linked with stress," Foreman added.

"That's it then," said Chase. He stood up and stretched. "This has been fun, but I am dying to get some sleep."

"Wait. What about the DNA?" Foreman asked. "House isn't just going to let her leave without knowing more."

"But he can't keep her without consent," said Cameron. "He's just going to have to deal with it." Both Chase and Foreman snorted. House was not the type of person to just let things go, especially if something had piqued his interest. "You two can tell House about the test results. I'm going go to tell the Halliwell's."

"Don't tell them about the DNA results," Foreman warned. "House insisted we keep that to ourselves until we know more." Cameron rolled her eyes and left the room. She walked down the corridor to Piper's room and tapped softly on the door before letting herself in.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cameron," she said. "We found a tear in your sister's stomach lining, which caused the bleeding," she explained. She watched as Phoebe climbed into bed with Piper and wrapped her arm around her. "The surgeons were able to repair the tear without any problems."

"So, she's ok?" asked Prue. Cameron nodded.

"The gastritis is what caused the anemia, which caused the heart attack and the fainting," Cameron continued. Prue let go of Piper's hand and looked at Cameron.

"So, we can take her home tomorrow?" Prue asked. Phoebe looked up at Cameron.

"Actually… there more," said Cameron. "When we looked into Piper's blood test, we noticed something… strange in her DNA." This woke Piper up. The three of them stared at Cameron expectantly. Cameron stopped to think about what she would say. House had specifically told the three of them not to mention anything about the DNA until he said to, but she knew the sisters had the right to know.

"Your sister's DNA has a mutation or advancement in one of the chromosomes," Cameron continued. "We have no idea what caused it or what affect it has had on her. For all we know she's perfectly normal and the mutation has had no effect on her health, but without doing any tests we won't know for sure." Piper and Phoebe looked at Prue expectantly. They had a pretty good idea what type of affect the mutation had.

"Does she have to be tested?" Prue asked. Cameron looked at her questioningly. The girls didn't seem to be surprised at all. "I mean… It hasn't done anything bad, right?"

"Um… well, I guess," replied Cameron. "Aren't you at all curious?" Prue looked back at Phoebe and Piper. They were still staring at her.

"It's just… there's no point in putting her through a bunch of tests if it isn't harming her," said Prue. "She's already been through a lot." Phoebe looked at Cameron and nodded.

"Ok," said Cameron. "I guess I'll leave you girls alone then." She turned and left the room. She was extremely surprised that the girls displayed no interest what so ever at the news. They almost seemed as though they already knew.

Prue waited for Cameron to turn the corner before shutting the door. She closed the curtains and turned toward her sisters.

"Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Phoebe. Prue placed her hands on her hips and sighed.

"What do we do?" Piper asked. Her voice was still quite raspy from the surgery.

"Nothing," replied Prue. "We just ignore it. Hopefully it was a mix up in the lab or something." All of them knew that wasn't the case. Before they could discuss the issue any further, there was a knock on the sliding glass door. The three of them went quiet while Prue went to answer the door. She was relieved to see Leo and not one of Piper's doctors.

"Sorry. Am I interrupting something?" Leo asked. Prue shut the door behind him and walked around the curtain with Leo.

"Not at all," replied Piper. "We actually have something we want to ask you."

"Does being a witch have anything to do with our DNA?" Phoebe asked before Leo could say a word. He stood, dumbfounded, for a moment before uttering a response.

"I have no idea," replied Leo. "I'd have to ask the Elders. But I'm sure it's possible."

"Well we need you to find out and fast," said Prue. "Because Piper's blood test came back with mutated DNA and we need to know if we should have the doctors look into it or not." Leo looked over at Piper and nodded.

"I'll see what I can do," said Leo. He quickly kissed Piper before leaving the room.

"If Piper's DNA is different because she's a witch, that would mean our DNA is different too, right?" Phoebe asked. "So why don't you and I get tested to make sure it's not just something wrong with Piper?"

"Because we don't want people to know that we're witches Phoebe," replied Prue. "And I really don't feeling like being dissected today."

"Yeah, that wouldn't be good," said Phoebe quietly. Piper laughed and rolled her eyes.

Cameron walked into House's office, where Chase and Foreman were already waiting. House had a packet of Skittles dumped on his desk and was separating the colours into piles.

"Please, come in," said House sarcastically. "Make yourself at home. Skittle?" He held up a small, green Skittle for Cameron. She politely shook her head and stood next to Foreman.

"I told them," said Cameron abruptly. "About the DNA." House stared down at his desk and sighed. He looked up at Cameron angrily.

"And I suppose you asked them if we could test it," he muttered.

"They weren't interested at all," replied Cameron. She was beginning to regret her decision to tell the sisters. House looked furious.

"So, I tell you not to do something and you decide to take it upon yourself to completely disregard what I asked," House snapped.

"They had the right to know!" said Cameron. "Withholding information from patients is against the law." House rolled his eyes and stormed out of the room. Cameron sighed angrily and left the room in the opposite direction to find Cuddy. Foreman and Chase looked at each other silently and shrugged.

Leo stood on the roof of the hospital staring up into the sky. Because he no longer had his powers, he wasn't sure how he was going to contact the Elders, but he figured the higher up he was the better chance he would have. He began shouting at the sky, asking for help and answers. He thought that he was being punished for saving Piper's life once before. He figured that the Elders were making Piper sick in order to restore the balance that he had interfered with.

When he was finished ranting, he turned to go back downstairs, but was met with the inquiring expression of doctor House. Surprised to see someone else on the roof with him, he struggled to come up with an explanation.

"Just ranting," he laughed nervously. "Sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was up here."

"Obviously," said House skeptically. "Do you shout at nobody a lot? There are people here that can help you know."

"Thanks," said Leo. He smiled nervously and skirted around House. "But I think I'll pass. I'm just… gonna go now." House nodded and continued to look at Leo with an expression of concern spread across his face.

House watched as Leo opened the door to the staircase and disappeared as the door closed behind him. House raised one eyebrow and looked up at the sky to see what Leo had been shouting at.

Leo wandered back down to the ICU to check on Piper. Visiting hours had ended so both Phoebe and Prue had been asked to leave, but Leo thought there was no harm in saying goodbye for the night.

The sliding door was wide open and the curtain had been drawn back against the wall so he could see Piper from the corridor. He slipped inside and stood next to her bedside. She smiled as soon as she saw him.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked as he sat beside her.

"I thought I'd come say goodnight," replied Leo. He pulled Piper up to a sitting position and wrapped his arms around her. She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and locking in a passionate kiss. They were interrupted by Nurse Pritchett, who gently tapped on the door. Piper and Leo released on another and looked at Nurse Pritchett sheepishly.

"Didn't mean to interrupt," said Nurse Pritchett with a smile. "I just wanted to make sure you're doing all right and I brought you your meds." She walked over to Piper and handed her a small paper cup with two little white pills and another paper cup with water.

"What are these for?" asked Piper. She stared into the cup and examined the pills. "I thought I was cured."

"Their just some post-surgery meds," replied Nurse Pritchett. "They're pretty much just vitamins." Piper nodded and swallowed the pills, then handed the empty cups back to Nurse Pritchett. "I'm afraid visiting hours are over though. I don't want to chase you out, but I'm afraid you can't stay long."

Leo smiled and nodded. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll just be a moment." Nurse Pritchett smiled and left the room. "She seems nice," said Leo.

"Yeah," replied Piper. "She's been great. Now, where were we?" She flashed him a flirtatious smile and proceeded to finish the kiss they had started before Nurse Pritchett had walked in. In mid kiss, Piper and Leo could hear the pulses on Piper's heart monitor increase in speed. Piper pulled away and let out an embarrassed laugh.

"Wow, that's embarrassing," Piper giggled. Leo smiled and slid off of the bed.

"We'd better stop before the nurses come in a freak out," said Leo. "I'll come back tomorrow, ok?" Piper nodded and watched as Leo left the room. She leaned back in bed and closed her eyes. Within moments, she was asleep.

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Prue and Phoebe walked into the manor in a hurry. The entire house was dark upon first entering it as the girls had not left any lights on. They'd been with Piper all day, then stopped to make sure everything was running smoothly at P3 before heading home.

"I am so ready for bed," Phoebe groaned as she tossed her shoes into the corner. Prue walked further into the house and placed her purse on one of their many end tables.

"That makes two of us," Prue sighed.

Without warning, an energy ball whipped passed her head and collided with the wall beside her. Grams' picture fell to the ground, shattering the glass on the hardwood floor. Prue grabbed Phoebe by the hand and the two of them ran up the staircase. Another energy ball collided with the wall behind them.

The two girls crouched down and peered through the balusters of the staircase. A large, green demon appeared from the parlor holding another energy ball.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he sneered as he whipped the energy ball in their direction. Prue and Phoebe screamed before running further up the stairs. They ran through the corridor and into the attic.

"What do we do?" Phoebe whispered apprehensively.

"We find a way to vanquish him," Prue replied. She quickly flipped through the Book of Shadows to find an entry about their attacker. Phoebe stopped her and pointed to a picture that matched the demon downstairs.

"It's a power of three spell," Prue groaned.

The demon sauntered into the attic with a smug look on his face. "Poor little witches," he chuckled. "Looks like you're powerless against me." Prue scowled and sent him flying across the room with her power. This gave the girls the opportunity to get away. They ducked out of the attic and ran back to the basement.

"What do we do now?" Phoebe panted. Both girls were out of breath by the time they reached the main level of the manor.

"We can't vanquish him without Piper," Prue gasped. "We need to find Leo and see if he has any ideas." Phoebe nodded and followed Prue outside to her car. The two of them sped back to P3 to find Leo.

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The girls had spent the night at P3. They knew it wasn't safe to go back to the manor because the demon would find them there. They figured P3 would be safe for awhile.

Phoebe awoke to the smell of bacon and eggs. She stretched out on the sofa she had claimed to sleep on and looked up at her big sister. Prue had a Starbuck's coffee in hand and a plate of food.

Phoebe forced herself into a sitting position and looked around. "No demon attacks yet?" she yawned. Prue shook her head and handed Phoebe the cup of coffee she had bought for her. "Thanks," said Phoebe gratefully. "Where'd the food come from?"

"Leo picked it up for us," Prue replied before taking a sip of coffee.

"Where is Leo?" Phoebe asked as she picked up a plate of food.

"He went to talk to the Elders," Prue replied. "He's been gone awhile."

Right on cue, Leo walked into the club with a young man following close behind. The man had dark hair and gorgeous green eyes. He flashed the girls a bright, toothy smile as he and Leo approached him.

"Hey, Leo," Phoebe greeted. She looked the young man up and down with a flirty smile on her face. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Luke," Leo replied. "He's your new Whitelighter."


	8. Chapter 8

Once again, I apologize for making you all wait for the next chapter. Now that college is over (except for final exams), I should have more time to write this story. I certainly haven't forgotten about it. No worries there. So, with no further ado, here is the next chapter.

P.S Thanks so much for the reviews! I've really enjoyed reading your feedback.

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Prue stared in disbelief; first at Luke, then at Leo. After everything they had been through, she could not believe the Elders would do something like this. Phoebe, on the other hand, seemed to have no qualms with the new whitelighter. She continued to gaze at him flirtatiously, not paying any attention to how angry her sister was.

"What to do mean 'new whitelighter'?" Prue snapped angrily. "No offence Luke, but we have a perfectly good whitelighter. We don't need a new one, especially now!"

Phoebe glared at her sister and tried to signal her to stop talking. She could not empathize with her sister at all. She couldn't think of any reason why Luke couldn't take over for Leo for a little while. The only thing on her mind was finding out if Luke was currently single.

"Prue, calm down," said Leo. "Luke is only filling in for me until I get my whitelighter privileges back. Prue seemed to let her guard down a little. "I promise. It's only temporary."

"I just want to let you girls know that I have no intention of taking over for Leo," Luke added. "I just want to help."

"I'm sure you do," Phoebe sighed softly. Prue elbowed her angrily.

"Will you stop!" she hissed. "I refuse to have two sisters in forbidden whitelighter relationships. Besides, he's dead!"

"So is Leo," Phoebe whispered back. She didn't bother to look back at Prue. She knew very well that Prue was giving her an icy glare. She could almost feel it.

The two girls looked back at Luke and Leo and smiled innocently. Luke smiled back, mostly at Phoebe.

"Luke is going to be here in case there are any more demon attacks," Leo explained. "The Elders are still looking into the whole DNA thing, but so far they don't have any answers. They have no idea if the demon attacks and Piper's illness are related."

"Well, that's a surprise," Prue snorted. Leo gave her a look that told her not to talk badly about the Elders in Luke's presence. Prue rolled her eyes and nodded to let Leo know she understood.

"So, what are you going to do if another demon attacks?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, we're completely powerless if another demon attacks that requires a 'Power of Three' vanquish. I thought whitelighters can't battle demons."

"I'm strictly here for guidance and healing purposes," Luke replied. "Let's just hope we don't have anymore demon attacks while Piper's gone."

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Piper awoke in a cold sweat. Her entire body was tense and trembling and she could sense something was wrong. She sat up in bed and grabbed the nurse alert button. She waited a few seconds and stared at the glass door.

The lights in the corridor were dimmed for the night and there was absolutely no sound. As Piper waited for someone to answer her call her vision began to blur and her head began to spin. She pressed the nurse alert button a few more times before slipping out of bed. She gently grabbed the end of the IV line and pulled it from the top of her hand and removed her heart monitor before stumbling toward the door.

"Somebody, help me," she gasped, but no sound came out of her mouth. She pushed the door open and collapsed onto the floor in the corridor. She pulled herself to her feet using the railing along the wall and slowly staggered through the corridor searching for help.

House and his team were sitting in House's office, staring at the wipe board with Piper's symptoms scrawled across it in House's writing. They had been sitting for quite some time, trying to come up with some answers to Piper's condition.

"Why are we still here?" Foreman groaned, breaking the silence. "Why are we still searching for some kind of condition if we're sending her home tomorrow?"

"Because we haven't found a cause for the mutated DNA yet," replied House. "I want some answers before she's gone."

"The Halliwells don't want you testing her anymore," said Cameron. "We can't keep studying her without their consent."

"They don't want us to find out because they're hiding something," said House matter-of-factly. Cameron rolled her eyes and put her head on the table; too tired to hold it up any longer.

"And what makes you think they have anything to hide?" Chase muttered. "They seem like decent people."

"Have I taught you nothing?" House grumbled. "People lie. Everybody lies! Cameron, how did the girls act when you told them?"

"Completely disinterested," replied Cameron. "They figured if it's not harming her, there's no reason to put her through more tests."

"If someone told you that you had mutated DNA, wouldn't you display some level of interest?" House asked the three of his colleagues.

"Of course," replied Foreman. "But that doesn't mean everyone is interested in medicine."

"Bullshit!" House snapped. "Every normal American family would show some sigh of concern if a loved one was diagnosed with genetic abnormalities." Foreman shrugged. There was no point in arguing with House. They all knew how stubborn he was. "I want you to check her club," said House.

"Not it," Chase yawned. "We barely got out of their house without getting caught. A night club is going to have lots of people and security alarms. There is no way we can check out her club without rousing suspicion."

"Fine," said House. "Cameron and Foreman will go; you big baby!" Cameron and Foreman looked at each other and sighed before getting up and leaving the room. Not wanting to be left alone with House, Chase quickly got up and followed them.

"Wait!" House shouted. The three doctors stopped in the doorway. House motioned for them to stay quiet. They could hear the faint sound of an alarm coming from somewhere close by.

Without waiting for further instructions, the trio, along with House, made their way quickly through the corridor to find the source of the noise. None of them were surprised to discover the noise was emanating from Piper's room.

"Where the hell is she?" Foreman snapped when they found Piper's bed empty. "And where are the night nurses?" The four of them began searching for Piper within the ward.

House stopped suddenly and watched as the trio of doctors made their way through the corridor. He turned back suspiciously and began walking toward the nurses' station. There were a few surveillance monitors stationed behind the desk so the nurses could keep an eye on each corridor throughout their shifts. House watched the monitors closely. On one screen he could see Foreman, Chase, and Cameron checking each room they passed, another displayed an empty corridor, and the last showed the doors of a few rooms and the door to the emergency staircase. As he watched the screens, Piper emerged from one of the rooms and disappeared into the stairwell.

House darted in the direction of the staircase, in hopes of catching Piper. Once on the other side of the door toward the staircase, he listened closely for any sound that would give him an idea of where to look. After listening closely, he could tell she was making her way upstairs. He hobbled as fast as his leg would allow him up the staircase until he'd reached the roof.

Once on the roof, he caught sight of Piper. She was up on the very edge of the building, looking down at the street. She seemed to be in some sort of trance and was completely unfazed by the danger she was in. House limped toward her, trying not to catch her attention. Without warning, Piper stepped off of the edge. House dove after her and caught her by the hand. He struggled to hang on, his leg beginning to give out from the pressure. Piper came out of the trance and screamed. She scrambled to grab hold of House's arm with her other hand.

"Please don't let me go," she whimpered in a panicked voice.

"I won't," replied House. He struggled to pull her back up. Piper attempted to help by digging her bare feet into the cracks between the bricks on the outer walls of the hospital. House's leg gave out, causing them both to falter.

Within moments, House was able to pull Piper back onto the roof. The two of them sat, huddled together, on the cold, hard pavement on the roof of the hospital.

"Don't let them kill me," Piper whispered after a few moments. House looked down at her, then out into space. He could feel her trembling in his embrace and her entire body felt hot and clammy. He knew he needed to get her inside and under a cooling blanket.

He staggered to his feet and pulled Piper into his arms. Without his cane, he limped toward the door to the staircase, ignoring the sharp pain in his muscles. The trio of doctors soon found House emerging from the staircase and assisted him in getting Piper back to her room and lowering her fever.

House leaned against the wall and watched the trio disappear into Piper's room.


	9. Chapter 9

Phoebe rolled over in bed, completely exhausted. The sound of footsteps and the hallway light seeping in between the crack of the slightly opened door had caused her to awake prematurely. She pulled her bedside clock closer to her and squinted to read the red, digital numbers. It was 3:00am.

Outside her bedroom, she could hear the footsteps running steadily down the stairs from the attic. The light from the hallway was cut off momentarily as someone passed her room. Phoebe groaned and sat up so that her feet were dangling off the side of her bed. She prepared herself before stepping onto the cold, hardwood floor.

She tiptoed through her bedroom and peaked through the crack between the door frame and her door. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the bright light. During that time, she listened for any signs that would give her some idea of who was awake. The last thing she wanted right now was to walk into another demon attack. She slowly pulled the door open and ventured into the hallway.

She immediately noticed that Prue's bedroom light. Without hesitation, she moved quickly to Prue's room to find out why she was awake so late. She leaned on the door frame and looked at her sister, who seemed to be doing a full reorganizing of everything in her bedroom.

"Too much coffee?" Phoebe yawned as she moved further into her sister's room and sat on her bed.

"Couldn't sleep," replied Prue.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Phoebe asked. She watched her sister move around the room with a pile of books in her arms, trying to find a place for them.

"Where do you think these should go?" Prue asked.

"I liked them where they were," replied Phoebe. "Your room looked fine that way it was."

Prue sighed and carried the books back to their previous resting place. She knew Phoebe was right. Any time she felt troubled, she felt the need to re-arrange or clean something.

"What's bugging you?" Phoebe asked. She motioned for her sister to sit next to her. "And don't tell me it's nothing because I'll know you're lying."

Prue sat beside her sister and rested her head on Phoebe's shoulder. "I don't know," Prue sighed. "Just general worrying I guess."

"You're worried about Piper," Phoebe coaxed.

"Am I that transparent?" Prue laughed.

"No," replied Phoebe. "I'm just that good."

Prue smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear. "I know the doctors said she was fine," said Prue. "But something doesn't feel right. It just doesn't make sense. I wish I could see her."

"Careful!" Phoebe snapped. "You don't have total control of that new power of your yet. You're going to end up astrally projecting yourself into a room full of doctors."

"What if I astral projected into her bathroom?" Prue suggested. "There shouldn't be anyone in there this late."

"I don't know," Phoebe hesitated, but without warning Prue gasped and collapsed onto her bed. Phoebe rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"That's so not fair!" she pouted. "I want a cool power like that!"

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As the trio of doctors and Nurse Pritchett got Piper back into bed, Piper began freaking out again. She screamed and tried to use her power to get them all to freeze, but Chase grabbed her hands and pulled them above her head.

"Grab the cooling blanket!" Foreman shouted to Nurse Pritchett. She nodded and scurried away. Piper attempted kicking her legs and twisting herself out of Chase's grip, but Foreman quickly grabbed her legs and fastened them to the bed before helping Chase secure her arms to the bed. Cameron moved quickly to administer a sedative to calm Piper down.

Nurse Pritchett returned with a cooling blanket in hand and placed it over Piper's body.

"She has a fever of 103.6," Cameron stated as she read the screen of the tympanic thermometer.

"Where the hell were you?" Foreman spat as he looked over at Nurse Pritchett.

"I was heard the alarm and went looking for her," replied Nurse Pritchett defensively. "I sent the rest of the nursing staff to look for her as well."

"I'll go call the staff and let them know we found her," said Cameron. Foreman nodded and looked back at Piper. She seemed to have calm down a bit and had stopped pulling on the restraints. She was still shaking from her fever and from the cooling blanket. Chase had already begun to replace the IV she had pulled out as well as the heart monitor. The familiar beeping of the heart monitor soon reverberated through the room.

"Temp's normal," said Chase after a few minutes. He and Foreman removed the cooling blanket and checked all of Piper's vitals before leaving her room. Nurse Pritchett followed close behind leaving Piper half-asleep and still restrained to keep her from leaving her room again.

Just as Piper began to nod off, Prue peered through the bathroom door. Once she was sure there was no one in sight, she moved to her sister's side and took her hand in her own. She frowned when she noticed the restraints.

"Piper?" she whispered as she gently pulled Piper's face so that she was facing her.

"Prue?" Piper slurred. She could feel the sedative pulling her into a deep sleep. She squinted in order to focus her vision on Prue. It took every last bit of strength she had to stay awake.

"Are you ok?" Prue whispered. "What did they do to you?" Piper mumbled something inaudible and her eyes drooped closed. Prue let Piper's head roll back onto the pillow and watched her sleep. Before long she could hear footsteps making their way to Piper's room. Prue quickly kissed the top of Piper's hand before astral projecting back to the manor.

Nurse Pritchett walked slowly into the room, closing the door and the curtain around Piper's bed behind her. She whispered something silently under her breath while holding a crystal which was strung around her neck with a silver chain. The crystal shone a deep red for a few seconds before returning to its normal state.

A swirl of red smoke began building up from the tiled floor. It grew larger than Nurse Pritchett and vanished. From within the smoke, a large body emerged. From his appearance, he looked like a normal, 6'2" male with chiseled cheekbones and jet-black hair. His eyes were an intense green colour and his smile was toothy and bright. He was by all means an attractive man. However, this was not a man, but a very powerful, upper-level demon with one desire. To destroy the Charmed Ones and gain possession of their treasured spell book.

"Do the Charmed Ones have any idea?" he muttered quietly. Nurse Pritchett shook her head.

"They are completely clueless," replied Nurse Pritchett. "Except Piper. I don't know how she keeps figuring it out."

"You've been careless," snapped the demon, Mika. "I shouldn't have to keep cleaning up your mess." He placed his hand on Piper's forehead and closed his eyes. His hand emitted a glowing red light, similar to that of Leo's when he used his power to heal someone. The light went out and the demon opened his eyes once again. This had erased Piper's memory of the night's events. "I don't want to have to do this again," Mika grumbled. "From this moment on you are to play your little Nurse role and show no sign that you have a connection with me or any other demon."

Nurse Pritchett nodded timidly. She had become connected with the demonic world quite by accident. Her husband had been involved with the demonic world before they had married. Only eight months ago he had been on his deathbed. Desperate, Nurse Pritchett sought help from the demon, Mika. In return for his services, she was forced to serve him until his demands were met.

Nurse Pritchett was forced to track down the Charmed Ones and incapacitate them one by one. She had planted a few sand flies in the box of fruit which had been sent to Piper's club. She wanted to do Mika's biddings in a way that would not provide any suspicions that she had been involved. When the Orroyo Fever had failed to kill Piper, she knew she needed to take more elaborate measures in order to keep Mika happy and avoid having her husband left to die.

She had stalked Piper for a few days following her miraculous recovery and eventually broke into the Halliwell manor and switched Piper's prescription. It only took a few days for the pills to take effect. Since then, she had been slowly poisoning Piper and providing House and his colleagues with a healthy patient's test results. The mutated DNA had been provided by taking samples of Mika's blood and mixing it with Piper's samples.

Nurse Pritchett felt horrible, but she desperately wanted to keep her husband alive. It was Piper's life or his.

"You're lucky," Mika hissed. "I could make you take out the rest of the Charmed Ones, but then my comrades wouldn't get the enjoyment of the kill."

"Can't they kill them now?" Nurse Pritchett asked. "There are only two of them. What is stopping them?" Mika backhand Nurse Pritchett, sending her to the floor. She grasped at her cheek and looked up at Mika.

"How dare you question me!" he snapped. "You need to mind your own business and hurry up and kill this one. And hurry up! You're only wasting the precious few days you have left with your husband." With that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Nurse Pritchett held back her tears and scrambled to her feet. She looked down at Piper and sighed. She had been giving Piper just enough of a number of different medications and poisonous substance to keep her sick, but not kill her. The truth was that she didn't want to kill Piper. She didn't think she could live with that kind of guilt. She had hoped that Mika's demon friends would off the other two sisters first and then come for Piper before she could kill her. However, something was keeping the demons from killing the other Charmed Ones and Mika was growing impatient with Nurse Pritchett for not killing Piper yet. She was soon going to have to choose between murdering Piper or losing her husband.

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"Prue will you stop and talk to me!" Phoebe begged. Prue had been unbearably angry once she'd astral projected back home and she hadn't said a word to Phoebe since. Prue was searching everywhere for her keys. She wanted to drive to the hospital and give Piper's doctors a piece of her mind for what they did to Piper.

"Prue!" Phoebe shouted, completely irritated by this point. She grabbed Prue's arm and forced her to stop and talk to her. "What the hell is going on?"

Prue stared her down for a second before forcing herself to calm down.

"They have Piper completely restrained to her bed and knocked her out with some kind of sedative!" Prue snapped angrily. She could feel the anger within her begin to build again.

"I'm sure there was a perfectly good reason for doing it," said Phoebe. "I mean, she's flipped out once before, maybe she did it again."

Prue hadn't thought of that and now she felt like an idiot for getting herself all worked up about it. Piper had been pretty out of it the last time she disappeared from her room. There was no telling what kind of problems she could have caused.

"See," said Phoebe. "I'm sure she's fine. She's in a hospital. Dr. House and those other doctors are doing everything they can to keep Piper safe and healthy."

"I know," Prue sighed. "I'm sorry. After seeing Piper like that, I wasn't really thinking. I guess I can wait until tomorrow to ask the doctors about it."

"So… does that mean we can go back to bed?" Phoebe asked hopefully. Prue rolled her eyes and nodded. The two of them turned off the lights on the main floor and made their way back to their own beds.

Phoebe curled up under her blankets and sighed. She took one last look at the clock beside her bed. It was 4:30am. She groaned and closed her eyes. She couldn't see Prue letting her sleep in late that morning. They'd probably be up and out the door in just a few hours from now.


	10. Chapter 10

It didn't seem like long after Phoebe had finally fallen asleep that she was once again rudely awaken. This time, however, she was not awakened by the sound of her sister shifting furniture, but the sound of a high-pitched scream. A scream she knew belonged to her sister. Phoebe leapt out of bed and ran to the hallway. The sound of her bare feet clapping against the hardwood floor was the only sound echoing through the hallway.

Just as she reached her sister's bedroom, Prue flew across the hallway and connected with the wall. The second she hit the floor, she waved her and sent whatever had attacked her flying. Phoebe ran to Prue's side and helped her to her feet. She stole a quick glance into Prue's room to see who they were up against.

A large, green demon was pulling himself to his feet. He looked over at Phoebe and Prue and grinned before igniting an energy ball in the palm of his hand. He pulled his arm back and proceeded to whip the energy ball at the two sisters. Prue deflected the energy ball just in time and sent it back to its creator. The demon shimmered out of sight just before the energy ball could hit him. This caused the energy ball to collide with Prue's bedroom wall, blowing a hole right through it.

Prue groaned angrily and made her way over to the destruction within her bedroom. "How much could this cost?" she muttered under her breath. Phoebe wandered slowly into the bedroom and glanced over at Prue's alarm clock. It was only 5am.

"That is the fourth attack since Piper got sick," said Phoebe suspiciously. Prue looked at her baby sister questioningly.

"You think the demon attacks are related?" Prue asked. Phoebe shrugged.

"Either they're related or all of Demon-Ville knows that the Power of Three is currently separated."

The girls cleaned Prue's room and temporarily covered the hole in her wall. After about an hour of searching through the Book of Shadows for their latest attacker, the girls decided to attempt to go back to bed. They had no idea when the next demon attack would occur, but they figured it would be best to rest up to prepare themselves for the fight.

Piper rolled onto her side and pulled her covers tightly under her chin. The restraints around her arms and legs had been removed during the night once the hospital staff was sure the sedatives had taken effect. Piper had no recollection of the events that had occurred only a few hours before. She listened to the noise outside her room, which she was becoming all too familiar with.

Deciding it was probably time to get up, Piper rolled out of bed and wandered into her bathroom, dragging her IV along with her. She was shocked as she stared at her reflection. The person looking back at her looked pale and tired. As she brushed her teeth, she found that her shoulder felt as if she'd pulled a muscle or two. As she concentrated more on the pain in her shoulder, she noticed that her entire torso was aching. She put her toothbrush aside and closed the bathroom door for some privacy. She proceeded to pull her shirt up and stared at her reflection in disbelief. Her entire upper body was scratched and bruised from the previous night's events. Unaware of how her injuries had occurred, she proceeded to make sure there weren't any more anywhere else.

A gentle tapping on the door broke the silence. Piper could hear Nurse Pritchett on the other side of the door asking if she was all right. Piper quickly fixed her hair and brushed herself off before opening the door. She smiled at Nurse Pritchett and let her know that she was fine, despite what she had just seen. For some reason, she felt unsure about telling Nurse Pritchett about her injuries.

As Piper climbed back into bed and made herself comfortable, Nurse Pritchett checked her vitals and placed a tray of food next to her bed. She picked up a small paper cup and a glass of water from the tray of food and passed it to Piper. Piper took the two cups and looked questioningly at the pill.

"What is this for?" Piper asked. She looked up at Nurse Pritchett. She couldn't help but feel suspicious for some reason.

"It's just a little multivitamin, dear," replied Nurse Pritchett. "It will help boost your immune system." Piper nodded and tipped the pill into her mouth. As she brought the cup of water to her lips, she placed her tongue over the pill. She passed the cups back to Nurse Pritchett and smiled. Nurse Pritchett smiled back and proceeded to leave the room.

As soon as Piper was sure Nurse Pritchett was gone. She spit the pill into her hand and tossed it in the trash can next to her bed. She looked over at the food provided by the hospital and silently prayed that her sisters would bring something more appetizing for her to eat. It wasn't that the food was terrible, but having been a professional chef for a few years now, Piper had become pickier about the food she ate. Cold, lumpy oatmeal and dry toast was not the least bit appealing.

She picked at the fruit cocktail and watched the hallway. Visiting hours had begun two hours ago and her sisters were due to walk through her doorway at any minute.

Prue rolled out of bed at 2:30pm. She sat on the side of her bed for a moment and stretched. She gasped as she noticed the time on her bedside clock. She ran out of her room and burst into Phoebe's room. Phoebe shot up in bed and looked around frantically.

"Where's the demon?" Phoebe gasped.

"There is no demon," Prue replied. "It's two o'clock. We slept in." Phoebe looked over at the clock and smile with satisfaction. It had been a long time since she had been able to sleep in properly. "Hurry up and get ready. Piper's waiting for us."

Phoebe walked through the hallway to the bathroom and hopped into the shower. As she was shampooing her hair, an ugly, white fire-demon with bulging eyes shimmered into the bathroom just outside the shower. Phoebe screamed and covered herself the best she could with her hands and arms. The demon extinguished the fireball he had ignited within his palm and raised his eyebrow at Phoebe.

"Prue!" Phoebe shouted. "A little help here!"

The demon moved his gaze back to Phoebe's eyes and re-ignited a fireball. Before he could throw it at Phoebe, she kicked the shower door open and pulled the showerhead off of its hook. The water from the showerhead extinguished the fire in the demon's palm and prevented him from creating any new ones. The demon growled angrily and shimmered out of the room.

Prue burst into the room and looked at her sister. She quickly turned around and covered her eyes.

"Uh… you needed me for something?" Prue asked. Phoebe frowned and grabbed a towel from the towel rack and covered herself.

"You can turn around now," Phoebe sighed. "I just got attacked by another demon." She looked furious. "I can't believe I can't even shower anymore without having to worry about a demon shimmering in!"

"Maybe we should call Leo and find out if he's heard anything," Prue suggested.

"You mean Luke," Phoebe corrected. "The new whitelighter." She smiled as she said his name. Prue did not look at all impressed.

"We'll call Luke once you're fully dressed," said Prue. She turned and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Piper sat in bed, bored out of her mind. She flipped through the channels on the small, black and white TV that was mounted to the wall opposite the bed. She'd already watched an hour of Oprah and had just begun to watch Dr. Phil. She hadn't actually been paying attention to the TV though. She was trying to recall the previous night's events and how she'd gotten the scrapes and bruises. Little by little it was coming back to her. She remembered saying good-bye to Leo, Nurse Pritchett giving her medication and waking up that night and stumbling out into the hallway.

She soon decided she couldn't sit any longer. She decided to wander around the hospital to stretch her legs a bit. She'd given up on waiting for her sisters. Something must have come up. The corridor of the hospital was incredibly busy. There were hospital staff, patients, and family members everywhere.

As she ventured further through the hospital, she could hear the sound of soft jazz music spilling from one of the rooms. The mixture of piano, saxophone and light percussion was very relaxing. She peered into the room where the music was escaping from. House was sitting in the dark with his legs elevated on his desk. His eyes were closed and he was fiddling with the end of his cane as he listened to the music.

Seeing his face brought back all of the memories of her fall from the roof. The smile faded from her face and she stared at House in disbelief. She could remember the events before the fall as well. A few hours after Leo had left the hospital Nurse Pritchett had come to her room and injected something into her IV line. Piper's powers had been bound by the pill Nurse Pritchett had given her during Leo's visit, leaving Piper powerless against her.

These events occurred every night since Piper was admitted into the hospital and every day, Piper was given medication to suppress her memory of the events. What Piper could not figure out was what Nurse Pritchett had against her and why she didn't just kill her.

She soon realized that she had been staring off into space as Dr. House pulled his feet off of the table and looked up at her. Piper quickly turned around and began walking back to her room. Before she could get very far, Nurse Pritchett stopped her. She seemed to be surprised to find Piper out of bed.

"Piper," she gasped, stumbling on her words. "What are you doing out of bed? Are you feeling ok?"

"I feel fine," replied Piper. "I just thought I'd walk around for a bit. I hope that's all right." Nurse Pritchett was eying her suspiciously.

"Of course, dear," replied Nurse Pritchett kindly. "Just don't overdo it." Piper nodded and walked passed her. She could feel Nurse Pritchett staring at her as she walked away. Nurse Pritchett frowned and walked in the opposite direction. Neither of the girls knew that Dr. House had been observing their conversation from his office.

Piper leaned against the wall in her room and watched out the window. She looked over at the trashcan where she had thrown the pill Nurse Pritchett had given her. The same pill she had been given daily to bind her powers. After making sure no one was about to enter her room, she snatched the pill out of the trashcan and hid it in her purse. She would give it to Leo later to see if he or the Elders knew what it was or what kind of demon was responsible for it.

As a test, Piper sat on the side of her bed and dropped her purse. Just before the purse could hit the floor, she stopped it using her powers. It remained suspended a few inches from the floor until she relaxed her hand, cutting off her power over it and allowing it to fall to the floor.

Just as she crawled into bed, Nurse Pritchett walked by her room with a trolley full of food. She selected one tray from the top of the trolley and carried it into Piper's room. She set the tray on the bedside table and handed Piper a little paper cup containing a different pill than Nurse Pritchett had given her during her breakfast rounds. Piper took the paper cup and the cup of water and pretended to swallow the pill. She smiled at Nurse Pritchett and handed the cups back to her. Nurse Pritchett smiled back and left the room. As soon as Piper was confident that Nurse Pritchett was gone, she spit out the pill and placed it in her purse with the other one.

After picking at her lunch, Piper crawled out of bed and wandered down the hall to the nurses' station. It was nearly three o'clock and no one had come to her room to remove the IV and send her home. She stood next to the nurses' desk and waited for someone to acknowledge her. Within a few seconds one of the nurses looked up and smiled at her.

"Hi," said Piper. "I was just wondering if I could go home soon. I was supposed to be released today, but no one has said anything yet."

The nurse looked at her questioningly and looked for Piper's information on her computer. She shook her head and looked up at Piper.

"I don't see anything about your release here," the nurse informed her. "I'll see if I can page one of your doctors to come and talk to you. Maybe they forgot." Piper nodded and walked back to her room. She crawled back into bed and closed her eyes.

Nurse Pritchett took a detour from her shift to visit her husband. The extent of her visit was spent staring longingly at his unresponsive body. When she finally decided to leave, she whispered her promise to him that he would be better soon. She took one last look at him and stepped out into the hall.

"Is she dead yet?" Mika growled, startling Nurse Pritchett enough to make her jump.

"Not… exactly," Nurse Pritchett confessed timidly. "I just need a little more time."

"I've given you enough time," said Mika angrily. He made sure he remained quiet enough to rouse anyone's attention. He turned in the direction of Nurse Pritchett's husband and held out his hand. Nurse Pritchett's husband began gasping and the alarms on his monitors began to scream for attention.

Nurse Pritchett grabbed at Mika's arms and begged for him to stop. When he'd had enough, Mika lowered his hand and looked down at Nurse Pritchett.

"You have until midnight!" he hissed before shimmering out of sight.


	11. Chapter 11

I was on a roll today, so I figured I would add two new chapters. I'm hoping to complete this story by June 27th. (Summer job time!!) There's one more chapter to go!!

Afraid for her husband's life, Nurse Pritchett moved quickly to the supply room. She began mixing a concoction of medications that would surely end Piper's life. It had come to the point where there was a choice between Piper's life and her husband's. She capped the syringe she had filled and placed it in her pocket. She knew she would not be able to use it until Piper's powers were bound, so she needed to come up with a plan to get Piper to take the binding potion. It was obvious that Piper hadn't taken anything that she'd given her today.

She put everything back where she had found it before making her way back to her ward. It was nearly time to deliver supper to all of the patients on her floor.

Piper rolled over in her bed and looked at the window. The evening sky was filled with shades of pinks and purples. It was nearly 6pm. She sat up and frowned. No one had come to let her know she could go home and, what was worse was her sisters hadn't come to get her. It was possible that they could have come while she was sleeping, but knowing them they would have woken her up.

Thinking for a moment, Piper grabbed her purse from off of the floor and pulled out her cell phone. After dialing the number for Prue's cell, she placed the phone to her ear and waited for her sister to answer.

"Prue, where are you?" Piper asked once her sister had answered her phone. "I thought you and Phoebe were coming this morning to get me?"

"I'm so sorry Piper," said Prue, sounding out of breath. "We've had a couple of problems to deal with at the manor. I promise we'll come and get you soon."

"Prue, there's something I really need to tell you," said Piper. She wanted to give her sisters the heads up on Nurse Pritchett and her venture over the side of the building. She listened for a second for a reply from Prue to let her know that she was listening. There was no reply. Piper pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the display screen. Her call with Prue had been disconnected. Piper's jaw dropped and she stared at the phone in shock. "I can't believe she hung up on me!" she exclaimed to herself.

"Is everything all right, dear?" Nurse Pritchett asked as she brought in a tray of food for Piper. Piper nodded and dropped her phone back into her purse. She placed the tray on Piper's bedside table and checked her vitals. "Enjoy your supper."

"Thanks," said Piper. She waited for Nurse Pritchett to leave before picking at her food. As Nurse Pritchett returned from her supper rounds, she glanced into Piper's room to make sure she had eaten the food she had given her. Within the next hour, Piper's powers would be bound and she would be able to administer the concoction she had whipped up to destroy the Power of Three.

"Heads up!" Phoebe shouted as she ran through the parlor of the manor. Prue caught the vile of potion Phoebe had thrown her and ducked behind one of the sofas. The latest demon to attack the sisters whipped an energy ball at Phoebe just as she reached the door of the solarium. The energy ball ripped through the side of the door frame, just missing Phoebe. Prue stood up from behind the sofa and tossed the vile of potion to the floor near the demon's feet. The demon cursed at Prue and shimmered out of the manor.

"This is getting ridiculous," Phoebe panted as she joined Prue in the parlor. "This has been non-stop since this morning. I don't think I can fight off another demon today."

"Don't let them hear you say that," Prue warned. "Obviously the entire underworld knows Piper is missing."

"Was that Piper on the phone?" asked Phoebe. She flopped down on what was left of the sofa. Prue nodded. "Let's go get her quickly before another demon attacks." The girls grabbed their purses and ran out to Prue's car. They had been trying to leave the manor for hours, but there had been persistent demon attacks all day.

As they drove toward San Francisco Memorial Hospital, Prue shouted Luke's name. Phoebe jumped and looked over at her sister with a startled expression on her face.

"With all of the demon attacks today, do you think you could give me some warning before you go shouting for whitelighter?" Phoebe exclaimed once she had composed herself. Just as Prue apologized, Luke orbed into the back seat of Prue's car.

"You called?" Luke asked. He smiled at Phoebe, who was smiling flirtatiously back at him.

"Any news on all of the recent demon attacks?" Pure asked. Luke nodded.

"There is word circulating in the underworld that the Power of Three has been temporarily separated," Luke replied. "All of the demons want to attack while they still have the upper-hand. No word on Piper, unfortunately. The Elders say there's nothing wrong with her."

"I don't believe that for a second," said Prue.

"Can't you just heal her?" Phoebe asked. "Just say you thought she was 'demonized' or something." She batted her eyes and ran her fingers along the side of her chair seductively.

"I wish I could," said a blushing Luke. "I could lose my wings if I get caught." Phoebe turned back around and crossed her arms. Whitelighters were very stubborn creatures.

House's team assembled in front of the white board to discuss Piper's latest symptoms. House was sitting right in front, leaning over his cane and staring at the board. Cameron looked at the board then down at House.

"There's no new information here," said Cameron, breaking the silence. "She's had hallucinations before." Chase and Foreman nodded in agreement.

"What if there is nothing wrong with her," House suggested. His gaze remained on the board.

"Then she wouldn't be having the symptoms that she's had," replied Foreman. "Why? What are you thinking?"

House stood up and turned to look at his colleagues. "I think her test results have been tampered with," House stated. "I want one of you to get a blood sample and test it yourselves without anyone knowing."

"O…k…" said Chase skeptically. "And why do you think her test results have been tampered with?"

House had suspected foul play for awhile, but last night's events had really convinced him. He had seen Nurse Pritchett pay a lot of attention to Piper during her stay; more so than with any of the other patients. Her excuse last night was lame. If she had alerted the staff to look for Piper, then why hadn't she shut the alarm off?

The team listened to House ramble on about his theories. Without arguing, the trio of doctors left the room. There was no point in fighting with House. It was just best for them to do what they were told and hope that they could prove him wrong.

During House's meeting with his team, Nurse Pritchett had wandered into Piper's room. Piper had fallen asleep following her phone conversation with her sister. Nurse Pritchett quietly pulled the syringe from her pocket and inserted it into Piper's IV line.

"What are you doing?" Piper asked groggily as she watched Nurse Pritchett pull the syringe from her IV line and put it in her pocket to hide the evidence.

"Don't worry about it, dear," said Nurse Pritchett. "Go back to sleep." She quickly turned and left the room. Leaving Piper confused and in a panic. She pulled the IV line from the back of her hand, hoping to stop the medication from entering her bloodstream.

She grabbed her phone out of her purse and quickly called Prue's cell phone to warn her about Nurse Pritchett and tell her about what just happened. She wasn't sure if she would be lucid enough by the time her sisters arrived at the hospital. Unfortunately the line was busy. Prue had called Leo to let him know what Luke had found out from the Elders.

Piper groaned angrily and threw her phone back into her purse. Chase walked into the room just as Piper returned her purse to the floor.

"Dr. Chase, you have to help me!" Piper exclaimed. She jumped off of her bed and walked toward him. "I promise I'm not crazy. The nurse that was just in here, Nurse Pritchett, is trying to kill me!" She tried to tell him about the medications Nurse Pritchett had been giving her and about the medication she put in her IV. Chase looked at her skeptically, but tried not to agitate her.

"I'm going to take a blood sample," said Chase. "We'll be able to see if any medication has entered your blood stream within the last twenty-four hours." Piper nodded and sat on her bed. Chase took the blood sample and turned to leave the room.

"Take these too," said Piper. She pulled the pills that Nurse Pritchett had given her from her purse and gave them to Dr. Chase.

"Where did you get these?" Chase asked.

"Nurse Pritchett gave them to me," said Piper. "She told me they were multivitamins."

"I don't even know what this one is," said Chase as he examined the pill containing the magic-binding potion. "It looks like some kind of herbal concoction." Both he and Piper frowned as they stared at the pills in Chase's hand. "I'll have a look at them." He turned and left the room, leaving Piper alone. She could already feel her temperature begin to rise and beads of sweat began to form around her hairline.

Prue pulled her car into an empty parking spot and she and Phoebe got out of the car. The two of them hurried up to Piper's room. They were supposed to meet Piper at 9am, but due to all of the demon attacks they were arriving at 8pm. They had to hurry or they would miss visiting hours all together. As they neared Piper's room they could tell something was wrong. Piper was no where to be seen Phoebe approached the nurses' station and tried to get the attention of one of the nurses.

"Excuse me," she said abruptly. "Where is my sister? Piper Halliwell?"

"I'm sorry," replied the nurse. "We have our staff looking for her. She's run off again." Phoebe groaned and turned to Prue.

"Should we split up?" asked Phoebe. Prue nodded.

Prue watched as Phoebe began her search through the corridor. Prue, on the other hand, had an idea of where to look. She began heading to the eighth floor where she had found Piper the last time she had run away.

The eighth floor was still empty and dark. It was reserved as an over-flow unit when the other floors were too crowded. Prue moved slowly through the halls, softly calling Piper's name.

"Prue?" said a quiet voice from one of the empty rooms. Prue quickly ran into the room and embraced her sister. "I need your help." Piper whimpered.

"You need to go back to your room," said Prue. "You need a doctor." Piper was fevered and trembling uncontrollably. Piper refused to go back downstairs. There was no way she was going back to Nurse Pritchett.

"Prue, you have to believe me," Piper begged. "Look!" She grabbed a box of tissue from the dresser in the bedroom and threw it in the air. As the box descended to the ground, Piper threw out her hands and attempted to freeze it in mid air. Prue looked at her in shock. "I told you!" said Piper.

Down in one of the labs, Chase was looking at Piper's blood sample while Cameron and Foremen studied the pills that Piper had been given.

"I have no idea what this is," said Cameron as she looked at the magic-binding pill. There are ingredients in here that I have never even heard of."

"Same here," said Foreman. "What the hell are these?"

"I have no idea," replied Chase. "But come, look at this." The trio of doctors stared at Piper's blood results.

"It's normal," said Cameron. "There aren't any mutations."

"Told you," said House as he walked into the room, startling his colleagues. "But there are a number of toxins in here." He pointed to one of the test results. "If we don't do something soon, she's going to die."


	12. Chapter 12

All right everybody. Here is the twelfth and final chapter of Charmed: MD. I hope it's not disappointing and I apologize that it's so short. Anywho, happy reading!!

Prue stared at the box of tissue sitting motionlessly on the tiles floor. Thinking that Piper's aim had been off due to her fever, she snatched the box off of the floor and had Piper try again. The results were the same. Prue picked up the box and tried to get Piper to try again.

"Prue!" Piper exclaimed. "They're gone. No matter how many times you throw that box at me, I'm not going to be able to freeze it."

"Just one more time?" asked Prue hopefully. Piper shook her head and crossed her arms. Prue sighed and placed the box back on the dresser. "Let's get you back to your room then."

"Prue, no!" said Piper. "We need to get out of this hospital before Nurse Pritchett gives me something to make me forget everything. She's trying to kill me! Why are you taking her side and not mine?"

Prue looked at her sister sympathetically. She didn't have the heart to tell her that she thought she was hallucinating. The Elders would have told them if Nurse Pritchett was a demon and Piper's blood tests would have shown if she was being poisoned. She needed to get Piper back to her room quickly, even if it meant lying to her to get her there.

"You're right," said Prue. "We should go home and check the Book of Shadows."

"Now you're talking," said Piper. She grabbed Prue's hand and pulled her toward the elevator. Prue moved toward the elevator buttons and pushed the button to Piper's floor. She then proceeded to stand in front of the buttons to keep Piper from seeing the button she had pushed.

As the doors slid open to Piper's floor, the two girls moved quickly into the corridor and looked around.

"Prue, this isn't the main floor," said Piper questioningly. Prue shook her head and tried not to look guilty.

They both heard Dr. Foreman shout at them to wait. Piper looked at her sister with disbelief. Foreman and Chase both grabbed Piper as she fought to get out of their grip. Prue stood back and tried not to cry as she watched her sister desperately fight to get away. Dr. Cameron soon brought over a sedative to calm Piper down enough to get her back to her room.

Phoebe ran into the corridor just in time to see the trio of doctors take her sister away. She quickly hugged her eldest sister and tried to get some information as to what had happened. Before she could get any information from Prue, Dr. House slowly limped toward them. Phoebe let go of Prue and looked at House expectantly.

"Your sister's been poisoned," said House bluntly.

Nurse Pritchett was down in her husband's room. She smiled down at her husband, knowing that as soon as Piper was dead she would have her husband back. She was startled when she felt a presence in the room with her. Turning around, she could see Mika standing in the corner of the room with his arms crossed and an angry look on his face.

"I did what you asked," said Nurse Pritchett. "Now, can you make him better."

Mika sneered and held his hand out. As he closed his hand into a fist, Nurse Pritchett's husband began to gasp for air. His heart monitor began to whine as the line, which had previously been beating in a steady rhythm, became a flat, motionless line.

Nurse Pritchett screamed and attempted to revive her husband. After a few minutes of desperately trying to breathe life back into her husband, she collapsed onto his chest and sobbed.

"You were supposed to help him!" Nurse Pritchett howled.

"And you were supposed to kill the witch!" Mika snarled angrily. "They found out that you've been poisoning her and they've fixed it. I gave you until tonight to kill her and you failed. Our deal is over." He shimmered out of the room, leaving Nurse Pritchett alone in the dark hospital room with her husband's lifeless body.

She wasn't alone for long. With the alarm from her husband's heart monitor still screaming, it wasn't long before the room was filled with medical staff. Nurse Pritchett pushed through the crowd and moved into the hallway, just in time to run into two members of the San Francisco police department.

Piper awoke to a room full of her favorite people. Both of her sisters ran to her bedside the moment they noticed that she had opened her eyes. Realizing that they were mauling their sister, Prue and Phoebe backed up and smiled.

Piper smiled at her sisters and looked up at Prue. "I told you so!" she said with a cocky smile.

"I'm so sorry I didn't listen," said Prue. Leo sat on the side of Piper's bed and gently took her hand in his.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Much better now," said Piper. She pulled Leo in close enough for a long, passionate kiss. Phoebe tilted her head to the side and smiled at the couple that was so much in love. Prue took her by the hand and pulled her out of the room to give Piper and Leo some privacy. As they walked into the hallway, they bumped into their new whitelighter, Luke.

"Hey," said Phoebe. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to say good bye," said Luke. "Now that Piper's better and the Power of Three is back in full force, you're not going to be needing me to watch over you anymore."

"I wouldn't say that," said Phoebe seductively. "Leo is still out of commission until the Elders give him his power back. You never know if we might need some emergency counseling or healing or something." Luke smiled.

"I'm always just a call away," said Luke. "But I'm afraid the Elders need me to watch over a few new witches for awhile." Phoebe looked disappointed, but soon cheered up. She began pulling Luke aside, suggesting that they should have a proper goodbye before he had to leave.

Prue rolled her eyes and looked back at Piper and Leo. "So not fair," she pouted as she watched Phoebe walk away with Luke. Prue turned and began to walk toward the elevator, planning on meeting Phoebe in the cafeteria when she was finished with Luke.

She sat at a small table in the cafeteria and began checking her cell phone for missed calls. She was startled as a man tripped and fell next to her, sending a tray of food flying onto the floor. Prue quickly got up and helped the man to his feet.

"I'm so sorry," said the man. He looked up at Prue with his dark green eyes. "I hope I didn't get any on you."

"Don't worry about it," said Prue. "You completely missed me." She flashed a flirty little smile at him. He smiled and kicked his empty tray aside.

"I wasn't really hungry anyway," said the man. "I'm Chad." He held out his hand and waited for Prue to accept his handshake.

"Prue," said replied as she shook his hand. "Hey, I know this really nice coffee shop about a block from here. Do you want to go get something to drink?"

"Love to," replied Chad. Prue smiled and began walking toward the hospital entrance with Chad. With Piper completely healthy and Phoebe currently preoccupied, she felt there was no harm in leaving them alone for an hour… or two.


End file.
